Feuding Mobile Email Players Settle Their Differences

Written by Adam Gosling

Wednesday, 11 July 2007

A while back Mobile email provider Visto threatened rival provider, Seven Network, over an alleged patent infringement. Well it looks like the Visto lawyers were spot on their mark. The two have managed to settle their differences, with Seven agreeing to ante up for a license to use the technology. The settlement ends a three-year patent dispute between the two rivals with Seven has acknowledging the validity and enforceability of Visto's patent portfolio and agreeing to the licensing terms. These include monetary and non-monetary considerations according to a statement from the two companies. "We are delighted by today's announcement. Visto's patent portfolio, which had been previously validated by the USPTO (US Patent and Trademarks Office) and the Federal courts, is now further strengthened through this agreement with SEVEN", said Brian Bogosian, chairman, president and CEO of Visto Corporation. "This resolution underscores the importance of Visto's contributions to the mobile communications industry and our commitment to protecting the intellectual property that we developed over a decade ago." "We are pleased to have reached an agreement that resolves the dispute," said Ross Bott, president and CEO of SEVEN. "As we continue our efforts to innovate and add value for our customers, this agreement provides the licenses that are needed to protect their investments in the booming push email market." As a result both companies will dismiss all pending legal claims in all jurisdictions. However, other outsatanding litigation typifiesthe push email landscape with Visto also alleging that other players including BlackBerry email company Research In Motion (RIM) is in breach of the intellectual property laws as well as Good Technology and Microsoft too. Reports suggest that Visto licenses patents from NTP, which successfully sued RIM last year, gaining US$612.5 million in a settlement and licensing agreement. Seven and Visto have not revealed how much their settlement was worth. In its case with RIM Visto will be holding its breath to see if its patents stack up to detailed inspection. Using the same tactic it used in the NTP spat, RIM is seeking to get Visto's patents invalidated by the USPTO. www.visto.com www.seven.com Related news items Tiny Rugged UMPC WIth Vista -10/10/2007 Consumers Want FMC: Companies Don't See The Benefit -02/10/2007 Nokia Buys Map Company For US$8 Billion -02/10/2007 Seven In Unwired Takeover Bid -26/09/2007 Ultra-Mobile Sales Ready To Rocket -16/09/2007 Newer news items Telstra, Vodafone Bicker Over NZ Subscribers -14/08/2007 Telstra Tackles Canberra In Court -03/08/2007 Greenies Slam Recycling Efforts -30/07/2007 VIPtel Telemarketers Were Misleading: ACCC -29/07/2007 ACMA Issues Biggest Ever Fine To Phone Spammer -23/07/2007 Older news items LG Goes After Quanta Again -05/07/2007 Judge Judges Optus Better Value Than Telstra -17/05/2007 More Work For Nokia Lawyers -04/05/2007 Kiwi Govt Accused Of Dodgy Termination Deal -03/05/2007 Do Not Call Register Swamped -03/05/2007 Tag This Now: